Puchkov Branch

Puchkov said:


#5 Oda Nobuna no Yabou: Yoshiharu (modern high school teenager) suddenly wakes up in an alternate Sengoku era (no explanations given) and while the premise appears to be a generic Isekai, the story offers so much more.

Right from the start, his presence changes history, although he quickly decides that he wants to preserve the history of this new world as close as possible to the real Sengoku period that he is familiar with. The writing is great and perfectly balances historical events and characters with fantastical elements. Yoshiharu only has one relevant skill, his historical knowledge and this works like a double-edge sword; he knows the outcome of all battles and how the events will unfold beforehand (or predict the future from the perspective of everyone else), however the abuse of this knowledge, plus some of his decisions during key moments, drastically changes history, to the point that his “skill” loses effectiveness.

The storytelling is incredibly engaging and entertaining, and the genuine bonds that these characters build with each other creates emotional moments. For them, their goal is not just simply unify Japan, but rather to make sure their friends can make it through together.

#4 Girls & Panzer Movie: This is the breath of fresh air that CGDCT needed and hope other Anime follow the example of Girls & Panzer. I’m definitely looking forward to the Girls & Panzer Saishuushou movies.

#3 Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki: This film is a wonderful story of perseverance, selflessness and love. Minor spoilers ahead, Hana gives birth to two children, and they are half human / half wolf; the immediate implication is that Hana wants the best for her kids, and she knows that since they are different, they will be treated with fear and prejudice.

The story shapes the difficulties of raising these young children, and showcases the amazing love of a mother, and all the sacrifices that she has to make in order to give her kids a better future. They eventually move to a rural town and the scenery is breathtaking. Life in the countryside is difficult, however Hana never falters and her committed conviction helps her to succeed.

While there are numerous stressful moments during the story, we’re also rewarded with an enormous sense of peace and gratification. The movie continues through a considerable time lapse and we see the kids growing up and transition to a fantastic coming of age story.

#2 Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou: Funniest comedy ever! The sense of comedy is pure gold, especially hilarious are the interactions between Hidenori and Yoshitake. Not all the jokes hit the mark, however the fast paced gags, scripting creativity and voice acting deliver humor like few other Anime can do (like Nichijou for instance).

Some of my favorite scenes are between Hidenori and Yassan; in their last one, while Yassan approaches Hidenori from behind, he is having an internal monologue in which he is thinking that he cannot make any other clever remarks/comments about the wind, and basically yelling “please give me a break”. After a few lines he works up his courage (overcome embarrassment) to say something and Yassan completely cracks up. In the end, both of them had tremendous compatibility and I loved when they hold their hands (kissing would be too much to ask).

#1 Sword Art Online: This Anime has received unfair criticism and down voting simply because its popular. I’m somewhat familiar with old school Isekai and a few modern titles, thus my comments are spoken from the perspective of a newcomer to the genre. Also please keep in mind that I’m an expert in video games, especially RPGs.

I’ve never... and I mean never watched anything like the Aincrad arc of Sword Art Online; it grabs the best aspects of MMORPG such as the sense of adventure, massive scale, skill progression and gameplay mechanics, while at the same time discarding the most annoying ones like grinding and backtracking.

The story follows Kirito and other characters forced to play a deadly game; now while the rules are rather fair, failure in the game equals death. This of course puts a lot of pressure on the characters, and greatly influences their behavior; some cooperate with each other, while others kill without a second thought. The Anime also succeeds in creating fearsome enemies, the sort of intimidating foe that would make anyone run away.

Throughout the story, Kirito encounters many people (essentially side quests) and each one introduces well written characters and expands upon the vast world of Aincrad. The animation quality and art style are outstanding.

Here comes the best part, some of these characters create powerful and endearing bonds with each other, suffice to say that this Anime achieved a 10/10 on my enjoyment scale. Cannot go into details because that would be spoilers.

Honorable mentions:

K
Taishou Yakyuu Musume
Tari Tari
Zetsuen no Tempest

PhKay said:
ooooh so you are on the positive side of SAO! This is kinda interesting since TheAnimeMan and gigguk only a couple days ago released a long-ish YouTube video talking (and ranking) thirty popular isekai of all eras so you may or may not wanna check that out and even give your opinion since you watched quite a bunch of the isekais they talk about...ofc never bother if don´t wanna watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRHkY6cwRfE

Danshi Kokousei i watched and i totally agree with everything. It is super funny and Yassan waiting for her fateful encounter at the riverbaks is one of my favorite reocurring sketches from that series. She has quite the serious look on her face but once she develops a crush she actually gets really cute!

i am also "scheduled" to watch Wolf Children this month since it qualified for our tournament too and does a respectable job there.

so i assume you left Another out of the list only because you technically finished it after returning? ;) I have to say this is probably the new number 1 on my "i´m so happy Puchkov gave it that score" list haha
especially because it is so hit and miss for many people. I mean look at the discrepancy between its score rank and its popularity rank, you do not see something like this very often.

i promise this will be the last question until wednesday or thursday or so...i don´t wanna scare you away into your next break by stressing you with another question every single day but there was just a lot to catch up to...

edit: PS and i also wanted to take your 200th reply before it´s too late

PhKay said:
so after yet another 9 for Shinsekai yori, do you slowly but surely get the feeling 2012 might just be one of the greatest years in anime history :p

PhKay said:
So the obvious question now is of course: what exactly made you dislike the yaoi tongue kiss to the point that it cost the show a potential 10?

you may as well give overall thoughts. It would be stupid not to ask when you gave it a 9 and i have it on my favorites lol

SY might just be my favorite show to talk about ever to be honest.

PhKay said:
I shall also ask three more specific questions before moving on from Shinsekai yori ;)

PhKay said:
What did you think of Hyoukas rare mix of mystery and slice of life?

Favorite character? Eru used to win the big best girl tournament back in the days at Monias. You think she is worthy? ^^

Looks like you continue to have a ball lately. You like everything you see it seems (and if you dont its only 4 eps like the last completion). 2012 is getting better and better and better. I wish i could join you on your time travel haha

Puchkov said:


Psycho-Pass and Hyouka were my last two 2012 Anime and my philosophy is saving the best for the last. Well, deciding what is "best" without actually watching an Anime is difficult, so my PTW order is determined by my own expectations, comments from other people, MAL ranking, preferred genres and the unknown works of my mind.

Now that I’ve officially started 2013, you should already know which will be my most anticipated 2013 title; here’s a hint: a previous season is listed in my favorite section. It might sound strange for me saying this, but watching older Anime doesn’t feel like a time travel to me; since I’ve a methodical approach, I just undergo a smooth transition between the years and besides, Anime from 2009 and onwards have a modern aesthetics.

Is it possible to have a mystery Anime without crime and violence? Hyouka consistently demonstrates so. The story is grounded in reality, therefore we don’t see high school kids solving a murder case, and instead all scenarios are plausible and are resolved in a realistic manner.

Hyouka brilliantly introduces the mystery cases through every day experiences, and a couple of them seemed like they would be merely Slice of Life episodes, like the cultural festival (that turns into the club theft case) and the last episode with the doll festival that had to change their procession route at the last minute.

The mysteries are slowly introduced and the characters are not forced to solve them; they could ignore them and there won’t be any real repercussions. Hyouka aims to create a peaceful and relaxing environment, in which allures the audience with a few hints and through clever writing, delivers an engaging experience.

At the beginning of the story Houtarou lacks motivation, and Eru is the magical spark that sets the wheels in motion. Eru looks incredibly cute whenever she says "I’m curious", and this is because she has an innocent and playful personality. She genuinely is interested in why things happen, and her curiosity is contagious (those beautiful sparkling eyes!). There’s an artistic scene in which her hair grows and entangles Houtarou, and all of a sudden our apathetic protagonist feels attracted to this girl he barely knows and also triggers his own sense of curiosity. Still at this point, he will continue to say that he doesn’t want a rose colored high school life, although that will gradually change as he spends more time with Eru.

Eru is my favorite character of the series, although there are better girls than her; personally I liked more Mashiro Shiina from Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo. Having said that, Eru’s popularity doesn’t surprise me at all.

PhKay said:
Ok so you are trying to save the best for last each year taking all kind of things into account...i gotta ask: has this ever gone horribly wrong? haha be it for a show or maybe even an entire year...

As for what you look forward to the most in 2013...well if it isn´t the one sitting on MY favorites ;) I definitely cannot wait for that because Monogatari 2nd seems to be almost unanimously regarded to be the best season among fans. I have to say Bake and Nise feel almost like nothing more than introductions to the series once i watched everything that followed. Bake is mainly there to introduce you to the girls with these 2ep short arcs and yet, it is already SO SO GOOD (it does have the HitagixKoyomi beach date though which is one of the most beautifully romantic scenes i ever saw hehe)

I assume you will save it for quite late then according to your saving-up policy.

You are totally right a very special thing about Hyouka is that the mysteries hardly matter to the point they could just ignore them. I may add: that is exactly hat Houtarou would do if it wasn´t for Eru so for this fact alone i was always very invested in Houtarous change as a person thanks to Eru and yes, her KININARIMASU! is legendary charming ^^

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as far as Pet na Konojo is concerned, i have always struggled to like Shiina. I don´t know, she can hardly be blamed for her cluelessness and unintentional harshness at some points but i feel like all other girls deserve their pure love to be reciprocated more. Go ahead and tell me why i am wrong about Mashiro ;)

I was glad Rita was into a different guy as the only female in the series. I love how confident and aggressive her approach is!

PhKay said:
Looks like your start to 2013 wasn´t all that great was it? Well it is not entirely unexpected given you save the better stuff for last.
I haven´t watched anythng you watched so far so you will have to keep it spoilerfree ^^

btw since you save the best stuff, how do you handle things on the other end of the spectrum? How do you try to estimate what could be good enough to watch early and what to skip entirely?